Demitra whining continues

This time it's about the ice GM Place causing his groin injury. A fan at CDC typed out an article in the Province at the forum:

"In every building, year after year, the ice keeps getting worse and worse," Demitra said before the Canucks took on the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

"There are so many things happening in the buildings now. You're not finding good ice any more. In 10 or 15 minutes there are so many holes out there. If you slip a skate, you pull it [groin] right away."

Demitra said he injured the groin in the middle of the Canucks' 6-5 shootout loss to Columbus on Jan. 18 at the Garage.

"I tried to feed Mats [Sundin] and I cut in the middle and my skate hit something," said Demitra. Asked how the ice at GM Place - which has rated among the better surfaces in recent years - stacks up, Demitra said: "It's OK, but when you've got a lot of guys on the ice, you feel every single hole."

Yeah, he pulls HIS groin. It's softer than a handful of Kleenex.
He did say that he is looking forward to returning and playing with Mats Sundin though. But he'll play wherever the hell Alain Vigneault decides to play him. By default, he may end up with Sundin anyway because they seemed to have the best chemistry.
I have nothing more to say about Demitra. I'll just let him continue to run his mouth and you all can form your own opinions.

T Tags: Pavol+Demitra+complains+about+GM+Place+ice+causing+groin+injury

Luongo ready for full-on practices and could return this week

From the Vanouver Sun:

Vancouver Canuck superstar goalie Roberto Luongo will partake in a full team practice on Monday and appears set to return to game action this week.

Luongo survived a rigourous 75-minute workout run by goalie coach Ian Clark today at GM Place.

Seven players took shots on Luongo in a variety of drills designed specifically to test his injured groin.

“I pounded it pretty hard and the groin is feeling fine,” said Luongo. “We pretty much explored everything today. There were some broken plays where you kind of had to react and kick your leg out and be in a bit of a vulnerable position and I didn’t have any problems. So that’s really encouraging. I’m really happy with the way things went.”

This is the most excited I've heard Louie sound since his injury. His return will be an enormous welcome to a team that just cannot play consistently. His presence as team captain will be felt in all areas, but especially between the pipes. It's amazing how well a team can perform in front of a goalie they trust. I think the Canucks have found that in Luongo's absense mostly with Jason Labarbera in net.
Luongo's return will force a decision to be made by management on who his backup will be: Barbie or Sandman. I'd say Labarbera at this point. It appears that Sanford may have blown his chances against the Sharks, as he played sub par and could not shut San Jose down.
I guess it's fair to say that we could see Luongo back by Thursday against the Coyotes or Sunday against the Blue Jackets. The team could use a kick in the ass, as they are now only 4 points ahead of 8th spot Colorado, who has 2 games in hand.

T Tags: Roberto+Luongo+returns practice January+2009

Luongo's return drawing near *UPDATED*

But there is no set date yet. After practice yesterday Luongo said:

"I'm able to do movements totally pain-free," he said. "I'm able to kick it out and not worry about hurting it again. But it's still in a controlled environment. I'm not (going) full-out in practice."

Until you see him doing an all out practice, he is still week-to-week. At least there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Plus, we have Barbie, who isn't showing any signs of letting up.

UPDATE

From Sportsnet: Roberto Luongo could be back in the Vancouver Canucks net within 7-to-10 days.

Luongo took part in his first full practice Thursday since re-straining his groin on Dec. 12. Sportsnet sources say if Luongo's progress goes well over the next few days he could be ready to return as early as next week.

I am a man, but inside I feel like a giddly little school girl for some reason! If the Canucks can stay healthy, they may just be going on a winning streak in the near future. Alain Vigneault said that Sundin looked better and better during practice today. His hands got "softer." Add Luongo to this already confident bunch with Mats in the lineup and good things should happen.

Here is a video clip of an interview with Luongo post practice today.

When Luongo was presented with his Allstar jersey today, he quickly hung it up and said he'd rather be wearing a Canucks jersey.

T Tags: Roberto+Luongo+return+closer groin+injury+update

Luongo to begin skating again / Sundin to arrive Monday / Pyatt breaks foot

Just saw it reported on Sportsnet that Roberto Luongo is scheduled to start practicing on the ice by mid-week. I hope this isn't a knee jerk reaction to recent Canucks losses. Hopefully Luongo is truly pain-free. As Jason Botchford put it today:

The temptation will be there to push Luongo again. In the 15 games since he went down, the Canucks have given up 46 goals, or 3.07 a game. Before Luongo's injury, the Canucks were giving up only 2.28 goals a game.

The Canucks are 6-8-1 in Luongo's absence.

---

Correction: Mats Sundin will arrive in Vancouver Monday, not Tuesday. He will address the media at noon on Tuesday, Sportsnet reported.

So as the HockeyCentral panel just joked: "it's a race between which player, Luongo or Sundin, plays a game with the Canucks."

That cures my hangover!

Nick Kypreos believes that Sundin may improve his points per game playing with Canucks players who are in their prime. He then mocked who Sundin's line mates had been in Toronto over the past several years. No kidding.

---

Taylor Pyatt broke his foot after being struck with a Mattias Ohlund slapshot last night against the Oilers. I think I would have almost preferred that it was Steve Bernier that took that shot. Bernier couldn't hit a stop sign with a snowball from 5 feet out.




T Tags: Roberto+Luongo+to+return groin+injury+update Mats+Sundin+arrival+Vancouver+schedule

Forsberg trying electrical shock therapy for his foot

Kind of a wacky story actually. The translation sucks. It says something about him carrying something in his pants in regards to the electronic Stimualtor. Get your minds out of the gutter.
A Forsberg return at this point seems unlikely.

T Tags: Peter+Forsberg+update foot+injury electronic+healing

Luongo and his groin at odds

Roberto answered the burning question as to what exactly happened at practice last Wednesday, where he left early.

''It wasn't feeling like it was supposed to be feeling, so I got off the ice,'' Luongo said on Sunday. ''I didn't want to make it worse and I'm going to stay off the ice until I'm 100 percent.''

Luongo then admitted he has conversations with his groin.

''Week-to-week? Tough to say,'' Luongo said to reporters today. ''This is the first time I've dealt with a groin injury. Just when I thought I was ready to get back into it, my groin was telling me something else.

''I'm a competitor; I want to be in goal every day.''

Well, you'll have to stick with the XBox 360 for now, pal.

More at TSN

T Tags: Canucks Roberto+Luongo+groin+injury update

Luongo not accompanying Canucks to Edmonton

That is what the Vancouver Sun reported today. Alain Vigneault mentioned that the goalie is feeling some soreness in his groin.
So, he probably did aggravate it a bit on Wednesday when he left practice early.
I think we can almost assume that Luongo is going to need the full 5 weeks to recover. It has been 3 weeks since the injury. It could be fair to say that he may not be back until after Christmas.
It's probably better to assume that because waiting daily for his return just isn't worth the mind strain. We are going to have to put our trust in Curtis Sanford that he gets us through the month of December.
Personally, I trust him. He has looked great lately.
Until then, we don't need Luongo further complicating matters for himself. I'll bet Luongo is ultra-frustrated right now. But he can't let that impatience ruin his long term plans. That groin has to heal 100% or we could lose him for the year.

T Tags: Luongo+groin+injury+update December+12+2008 still+sore Curtis+Sanford+is+god+now

Don't panic about Luongo's groin

There is all kinds of speculation that Roberto Luongo may have aggravated his groin injury during practice on Wednesday, as he left the ice early and was unavailable for comments. Alain Vigneault said:

"He's been following a steady plan and the plan is for him to practice on Friday," Vigneault told the Vancouver Sun. "Every day is steady improvement. Groins are tough areas for players, especially goaltenders so we'll see how things progress."

Is Luongo pushing himself too hard to return early? That question remains unanswered and is left up to speculation at this point. There are several reasons why he could have left early: sore groin, explosive diarrhea, chicken's getting cold, etc. OK, excuse my sad humor.
Groin injuries are a tricky situation for goalies to go through. Luongo is surrounded by professionals who I'm sure are experts on the matter and are not letting him over-exert himself. I think it's fair to say that we should trust them.
I also think Luongo may need another 2 weeks off just to be safe. That would be my guess. After all, he is considered week-to-week.

“Roberto has been on his own schedule since the injury,” said Vigneault, not looking particularly upbeat. “He warms up, he practises, he takes what he can take and when he feels he’s had enough, he comes off. It was no different today.
“The timeline remains week-to-week. I can’t invent an answer for you. We originally said week-to-week. Some groins are quicker than others. That’s all I can say.”
“Roberto is only going to come back when he’s 100 per cent,” stated Vigneault. “When he’s ready to play, he’ll let us know. He’s no different than any other player on our team. You guys have to give this up. I can’t tell you more than I’ve told you here.”

Vigneault and obviously Luongo are tired of talking about it.
Expect Louie to miss the next the next 2 games at LEAST. We should be fine with Sanford in net against the Oilers and Panthers. And the more wins we get with Sanford, the less of a rush there is for Luongo to come back. And when I say "rush" I mean the "rush" or "panic" from fans and media, because as the coach mentioned, Luongo is not coming back until he is 100%.
More on Luongo and the Canucks at the Vancouver Sun.

T Tags: Roberto+Luongo+groin+injury+update aggravated? Luongo+leaves+practice+early

Luongo cautiously targeting Saturday for his return

From the Province:

The Vancouver Canucks have set a best-case scenario timetable which would see Luongo start next Saturday in Edmonton. If it happens, it would be three weeks to the day that Luongo was injured in Pittsburgh.

"Things have to keep progressing, but it's possible. Hopefully, that will be a good day for me," Luongo said. "At the same time, I don't want to get ahead of myself and start thinking about that game too much because I know there's still a lot of improvement that has to be done. Right now, it's a matter of building it up"

There's plenty of obstacles to get by this week to make it happen. The next one is today when Luongo is expected to join his team for at least part of its practice in Nashville.

"It's so tough to say with an injury like this because you want to keep improving every day," Luongo said. "But at the same time, you don't want to push it too hard where you regress."

So far, Luongo hasn't had any setbacks and that has to continue if he's going to make it back for Saturday.

Good to see the cautious side there. I'd rather he missed 2 more weeks than re-injuring his groin if that was necessary.

T Tags: Luongo+may+return+saturday groin+injury+update

Luongo could return next week

A poster at CDC found this from Luongo's page at Yahoo Sports:

Dec 6: G Roberto Luongo did not skate Friday after spending the previous four straight days on the ice, including taking controlled shots from goalie coach Ian Clark Thursday, but is still ahead of schedule to return from a Nov. 22 groin injury. He plans to join teammates on the ice in Denver over the weekend and could return by the following Saturday in Edmonton, maybe even in Nashville this Tuesday.

I am a bit surprised by this. It seems a bit premature, and the last thing you'd want Louie to do is aggravate the injury in an early return. But the doctors should be trusted in their judgement.
In the meantime, it was great seeing Cory Schneider play that well against the Wild last night. Hopefully he can sustain that kind of consistent success.

T Tags: Roberto+Luongo+injury+update return+date Canucks

Canucks recall JC Petit

OK, that's the joke going around the CDC forums. I thought that was pretty funny. Who is JC Petit?



Sign him up!

Actually, I believe the next goalie the Canucks may call up if Sanford is not ready is Julien Ellis, who was the Canucks' 6th round pick in 2004. His experience is not that convincing.
Maybe we should go find JC Petit. That will be tough. You may want to start with the tox box....

T Tags: Canucks+may+call+up+Julien+Ellis JC+Petit video goalie Sanford+injury

Canucks recall Cory Schneider and re-assign Nolan Baumgartner

We know Luongo will miss some time. It's just a matter of "how much". In lieu of that the Canucks have called up super-Moose goalie Cory Schneider. From Canucks.com:

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis announced today that goaltender Cory Schneider has been recalled from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.

The club also announced they have re-assigned defenceman Nolan Baumgartner to Manitoba.

Schnieder, 22, has posted a record of 10 wins and one loss, with one shutout in 11 games played this season with Manitoba. In addition his 1.37 GAA is the lowest in the AHL and his .945 save percentage places him second in that category as well. Schneider has led the Moose to an AHL best 28 points with a club record of 14-3-0 and first place in the AHL's North Division. His 10 wins are tied for the most in the League.

Those are impressive stats. But that is the AHL. How well will he perform in the NHL? He played weel in preseason I remember, but that is different as well. I am looking forward to seeing him strut his stuff. Basically, Schneider will try to prove that he can backup Luongo or be a Canucks starting goalie in the future. What more motivation does he need?
The way the Canucks are rallying around Curtis Sanford lately, I'd say it's a safe bet The Sandman will get the majority of the starts in Luongo's absence. But anything can happen.
Like I've said elsewhere online, I am not worried about the Canucks without Luongo. This is a huge opportunity for Sanford and Schneider.

T Tags: Luongo+injured Canucks+recall+Cory+Schneider Canucks+re-assign+Nolan+Baumgartner+to+Manitoba

Randy Carlyle losing patience with Brendan Morrison

From the OC Register:

While declining to specify a timeframe, Coach Randy Carlyle made it clear Tuesday that the Ducks won’t wait forever for marquee off-season, free-agent acquisition Brendan Morrison to get going offensively.

“We said we would show some patience, but obviously you can’t show patience past a certain point,” Carlyle said. “He knows that, and we’ll work through it together.”

Morrison, who underwent April surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, enters Tuesday night’s game against the Kings at Staples Center with just one point, an assist, in 13 games. He is also a team-worst minus-7.

Poor Mo. I'd rather see him struggle with the Ducks than with us though!
He'll find his stride back again some day, but it may be with a different team or in a different league. The Ducks will only wait so long before they run out of patience and either demote him, trade him or maybe even give him away. And to think that Morrison once was an ironman in the League.

T Tags: Ducks+may+trade+Brendan+Morrison

Justin Williams out 4-6 months

Torn achilles tendon. Jeez. Williams only played in 37 games last season because of back problems and a torn ACL as well. He had 30 points in those games. He has the potential to be a 70-80 point producer.

The good news about this is:

-if you are creating a hockey pool and enter J Williams as one of the choices, people won't confuse it between Justin and Jason Williams.

-maybe the Hurricanes should pick up Glen Murray, who's still in limbo. Hey, if they can turn Sergei Samsonov's career around, surely they beat some more points out of Murray. Perhaps Mark Parrish is another option.

-The Acid Queen hasn't caught on to this yet.

The bad news is:

- I really don't mind the Hurricanes and am pulling for them to turn it around this season. But losing Williams is a lousy step backwards.

T Tags: Justin+Williams+injury torn+achilles+tendon out+four+to+six+months Carolina+Hurricanes

Cooke week-to-week / The Incredible Hill

From TSN:

Forward Matt Cooke's status has been down graded from day-to-day to week-to-week. Cooke hasn't skated since suffering a groin injury April 11 in Game 1 of the Canucks series with Dallas. "Matt is not day-to-day anymore," announced Canuck head coach Alain Vigneault at the morning skate Thursday. "He's either week-to-week, or week-to-day, or day-to-week. Or whatever you want to call it. But he's past the day-to-day stage now." - Vancouver Sun

Well that is lousy news isn't it? We could sure use Cooke in the lineup. Then again, Jannik Hansen is performing admirably.

_____________________________________

The Islanders recieved their own piece of bad news today. Defenceman Sean Hill has been suspended for 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA performance enhancing substance abuse program. The 37-year-old Hill will now wait to be signed by the Islanders or someone else in the summer, as he is an unrestricted free agent. Hill will not be paid for the next 20 games he plays in the NHL.

T Tags: Matt+Cooke Canucks Sean+Hill Islanders Drugs

Status of Josh Green/Kesler

Josh Green has posted at the Canucks.com player's blog about his status and when he could return. He is targeting the last game of the season or the first game of the playoffs. I won't mind seeing Green come back, as he is a gritty role player AND it will eliminate Tommi Santala from the Canucks' roster. That's a no-brainer.
But what about the return of Ryan Kesler? Barring any injury, and that Green has returned already, who would Kesler knock out of the lineup? Jeff Cowan? Josh Green?
It may be a hard choice to make unless:

- Cowan has completely cooled off by then.
- Jan Bulis is a shite in the playoffs.
- Josh Green is a shite in the playoffs.

At Kesler's $1.9 million salary, you'd have to think he'll be inserted back in to the lineup as soon as he is ready. But besides Santala, I am liking this team the way it is. I don't even miss Kesler. Sorry Kes.

So I am conflicted. What are your thoughts? When Kesler and Green have clean bills of health, how would you adjust the lineup? Would it mess up the chemistry? Would it depend on how the Canucks are playing in round 1?

Technoranti Tags: Kesler Green Injury Canucks Playoffs

Shanahan taken off on a stretcher

Oh boy. No one wants to see this happen. Brendan Shanahan collided with Flyers' Mike Knuble during the Rangers/Flyers tilt this afternoon. It doesn't look like they butted heads, but Shanahan was out cold regardless. No word on his condition yet. Moments earlier, Rangers' goalie Henrik Lundqvist took a Geoff Sanderson slapshot high, and left the game with an undisclosed injury.
These incidences are not good news to the Rangers, who are currently 3 points out of a playoff spot.
The Flyers did win the game 5-3 by the way. How about RJ Umberger? He's playing well recently. Is he going to emerge for Philly in Forsberg's absence? It appears that way.
-----UPDATE-----------
It appears that Mike Knuble got the worst of the deal. He has a broken orbital bone, while Shanahan feels like he drank a few too many Spiced Rum and Cokes!